NEWCOMERS SHINE IN SINGAPORE AT ASIA’S BEACH WRESTLING WORLD SERIES DEBUT
It was a sensational second day at the Singapore Sports Hub as the first Kings and Queens of Asian sand were coronated. The podiums welcomed some old favourites with Ukraine, Georgia, Romania and Azerbaijan picking up medals of all colours, but it was the newcomers who made the biggest impression with Cambodia, China and Senegal all winning medals as they made their sandy circle debuts.
With the group stages finished it was time to get down to the business end of the leg and as always, the eliminations rounds provided plenty of drama and entertainment as the sun shone brightly on the superstars of sand. The last chance to grab what could be all important ranking points to qualify for the ANOC World Beach Games in Bali gave the latter stages a little bit more edge.
The Princess of Power, Stefania PRICEPUTU (ROU) has dominated the women’s 50kg division and is another step closer to a third consecutive Beach Wrestling World Series title as she came from behind in the final against Samnang DIT of Cambodia. Dit issued a challenge after Priceputu had been awarded a point for downing her opponent to go 2-1 ahead but with the challenge losing, Priceputu was given the extra point and victory was secured. China picked up their first medal of the day in the bronze medal match with Xiaomin XIE defeating Argentinian Maia CABRERA.
A second medal of the day wasn’t long in the waiting for the Chinese team as Yue ZHANG repeated her group stage win over Romania’s Elena Simona IONESCU in the semi-final of the women’s 60kg division before stunning Ukrainian Anastasiya KRAVCHENKO in the final. The Chinese newcomer secured a 3-point finish as she landed Kravchenko on her shoulders after 1 minute 40 seconds. Kravchenko challenged the call but lost, giving ZHANG a 4-1 win and the gold medal. There was further disappointment for Ionescu as she lost the bronze medal match to Ukraine’s Daria MEDVESTSKA who bounced back from her semi-final defeat to Kravchenko to take third place.
Having missed out on the first leg in Argentina, Team Ukraine made sure they would make up for lost points across all weight divisions. In the women’s 70kg they were guaranteed a 1-2 as Olena NIKITINSKA and Oksana HERHEL contested the final. Herhel took home the gold with a stunning performance that saw the 28-year-old athlete take only 41 seconds to seal the gold medal. Frenchwoman Manon KURY, who lost out to Nikitinska in the semi-final, made sure she was going home with a medal as she edged out debutant Bea MEIRING (RSA) who can be happy with her first ever Series outing finishing fourth. Catalina AXENTE is the reigning +70kg women’s world champion and the rampant Romanian shows no intention of giving up her crown. She roared back in the Lion City after failing to make it into the knockout stages in Buenos Aires to take victory. Having qualified from the groups, she defeated Spaniard Noelia LALIN CANDA in the semi before facing up against old foe Liudmyla TYCHYNA (UKR) in the final where she wrapped up the win with 10 seconds remaining. Stefania ZACHEILA (GRE) took the bronze with a win over Lalin Canda in the 3-4 match.
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